


the city is at war

by annadavidson



Series: even the stars, they burn (a star wars: the old republic dual au) [4]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Platonic Relationships, The Sirius Legacy, Ziost
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-10-12 00:00:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17456777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annadavidson/pseuds/annadavidson
Summary: She needed to shock them out of the Emperor’s control. She needed to get them off Ziost. She needed to stop crying.Prompt: “I’m only having a bit of fun.”





	the city is at war

She had grown up on Ziost. She’d lived here with her parents and little brother. It had been her home. Here she had discovered she was Force sensitive. Here her parents had convinced her to join the Sith Academy. For years she had avoided this place, terrified that her family would reject her. She had fled the Sith Academy, seeking refuge with the Jedi. She had always known that her parents were disappointed in her, perhaps even disgusted. She had always known in her heart that they no longer saw her as their daughter.

Now she found herself home. Her family stood before her, except they weren’t themselves. They glowed red with the Emperor’s influence. Adara felt rage she hadn’t felt in quite a long time. She remembered her Sith training to channel her anger. She remembered her Jedi training to calm herself. The anger won.

_ “Let them go!” _ she snarled, her hands glowing with Force energy as she tightly gripped her lightsaber. Her fingers sparked with electricity she’d never fully learned how to control. She needed to shock them out of the Emperor’s control. She needed to get them off Ziost. She needed to stop crying.

“What’s wrong?” her mother asked, the woman’s voice laced with that of the Emperor’s. “Still  _ pretending _ to be a jedi?”

Adara grit her teeth, resisting the urge to turn her lightsaber on. She tried to focus on the whispers of the Jedi teachings, but the teachings of the Sith screamed at her. She noticed the blaster in her mother’s hand. She saw it raised, saw the trigger pulled.

A blade of black and orange stopped the blast, expertly deflecting it to the ground where it struck, burning a small dot. He seemed to materialize out of nowhere - out of  _ stealth, _ she realized. His long, stark white hair was uncharacteristically pulled back into a tight ponytail as if he’d gotten tired of it falling in his face during the fights. He was clad from head to toe in black with the occasional red accent. His eyes, as stark white as his hair, briefly glanced to her as if to see if she was okay.

She recognized him the instant he had appeared.  _ Darth Imperius, _ though she knew him as Benjamin Klein.

He seemed to notice her tears, sense her anger. His gaze, powerful,  _ dark, _ turned on her family. She knew the moment he recognized the similarities between her and her family, the moment he realized this was the family she had mentioned in passing, briefly to him when they’d been working together to take down Revan and his cult. She knew that moment when she sensed him mirror her anger and then felt it increase into  _ rage. _

“The usurper finally shows himself,” her father smirked, eyes never wavering from the sith inquisitor. “Tell me - how does it feel to be in the presence of a  _ real Emperor?” _

Adara was so used to seeing Ben calm, even when she sensed a storm under his skin, that it was a shock to see him grimace.

“It’s disappointing,” was all Ben said, his voice distorted by the gear that covered his neck, chin, and ears. He took one step forward, dual-bladed lightsaber still emitting that black light outlined in orange.

Adara felt her heart clench in her chest, her own hand itching to put her blade in the way of his. But to her surprise he struck out with his free hand, purple lightning crackling from his fingers. It shot out, striking her parents and little brother. Despite knowing that this was what they needed, that this would get them out of the Emperor’s control, a fearful cry tore itself from her throat. She watched her family crumple to the ground, unconscious, darting toward them and quickly falling to her knees. She let out a breath of relief, having not realized she’d been holding it in until she was certain their hearts were still beating.

She heard the distinct sound of a lightsaber switching off and looked over in time to see Ben hook the hilt of his lightsaber to his belt. His expression was once again one of calm, made eerie only by the fact that she could sense the anger, the  _ rage _ boiling under the surface.

It took her a moment before her voice again, the words strained with her own anger, her own fear.  _ “Thank you.” _

Ben gave a small nod, eyeing her. He then got down on one knee next to her, his gaze drifting to her unconscious little brother, barely fifteen years old. She felt his anger bubble up closer to the surface, closer to showing as it had earlier.

“We need to get them off world,” he stated, his voice a forced calm. “If we get them far enough away, they might be safe from the Emperor’s control.”

_ Might. _ Adara flinched at the word and felt his eyes dart back onto her. He paused for a moment before standing up. She reached down, brushing hair out of her brother’s face. She hadn’t entirely noticed that Ben had left until he returned, once again surprising her. She wasn’t sure she’d ever get past how different he was from the sith she’d grown up knowing or hearing about. But there he was with a taxi speeder and a droid to pilot it.

He didn’t wait for her to ask how he’d gotten it. He bent down, gently scooping her brother into his arms. She’d never seen him look awkward before but there was something in the way he looked with a child in his arms, as if he didn’t know what one actually did with a child, that made him look, well,  _ awkward. _ He placed the young boy in the taxi with gentleness she hadn’t thought any siths were capable of.

Next he hoisted her mother up and placed her in the taxi, then her father. He grunted under her father’s weight and she quickly got up to help him, needing to feel useful, helpful. Together they managed to get her father into the taxi.

“Get them to the shuttle pad,” he instructed the droid, gripping its arm tightly. In her opinion, the droid looked frightened. “Then get them off world. If anyone questions you, tell them that they are guests of Darth Imperius and require medical attention.” With that the taxi sped off.

Adara lifted her hands up and wiped tears off her cheeks with her gloves. Ben seemed to wait for her, patiently, arms clasped behind his back, gaze settled on the chaos around them.

“Thank you, Imperius,” she breathed out, stepping forward so she stood beside him.

He turned his head just enough to look at her. “Ben,” he said shortly, “You may call me  _ Ben.” _

“Adara,” she supplied, though she had a feeling he remembered her name from their time on Rishi.

He nodded, a small, barely noticeable movement. He then grabbed his lightsaber, clicking it on, black and orange illuminating his side.

“Shall we stop this relic of an Emperor now?” he asked, a smirk playing at his lips. “I’m sure we have friends who could use our aid right now.”

She thought of Litioka and then of her former padawan, Rajai. They were somewhere in the city, trying to stop the Emperor along with other allies fighting by their side. She drew her own lightsaber and clicked it on, the dual blades coming to life in a brilliant white, purple, and blue. With her free hand, she pulled her hood back up, shadowing her face.

She heard him chuckle humorlessly, heard his distorted voice say, “Let’s go piss off a fossil.”

She tilted her head up, one eye showing under her hood, an eyebrow raised. “Are you enjoying this battle,  _ Ben?” _ It felt odd to call a sith by their actual name but at the same time it felt like an honor. It felt like a secret kept between friends.

His smirk turned into a wicked grin, teeth as white as the rest of him. “Why I’m only having a  _ bit of fun.” _

**Author's Note:**

> Like/reblog on Tumblr [here](http://magicrobins.tumblr.com/post/182099742350/the-city-is-at-war).


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